Alert management

ABSTRACT

Alert management may include receiving, by a monitoring module from one or more disparate monitored sources, an alert, where the alert is a data structure that includes a plurality of fields; storing, by the monitoring module, the alert in a database; processing, by the monitoring module periodically at predefined intervals, the database, including identifying, in dependence upon a predefined ruleset, one or more alerts; storing, by the monitoring module, the identified alerts in a staging table, including creating, for each of the identified alerts, a primary key in dependence upon the fields of the identified alert; populating, by the monitoring module for each of the alerts stored in the staging table, one or more attribute fields of the alert in dependence upon the created primary key of the alert; and storing, by the monitoring module, the populated alerts in the database.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of and claims priorityfrom U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/801,218, filed on Mar. 13,2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically,methods, apparatus, and products for alert management.

Description of Related Art

The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited asthe beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systemshave evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers aremuch more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computersystems typically include a combination of hardware and softwarecomponents, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses,memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductorprocessing and computer architecture push the performance of thecomputer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software hasevolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware,resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful thanjust a few years ago.

Computer systems today are often coupled with many other computersystems through a data communications network. In some environments,many computer systems, components of the computer systems, or componentsof a data center, may be monitored for potential remedial action. Insuch an environment, many disparate sources may send events or potentialalerts to a single monitoring agent which may also be coupled, upstream,to a ticket queuing agent. The monitoring agent may receive alerts fromthe monitored systems and pass along the alerts to the ticket queuingagent. The ticket queuing agent may generate and issue a ticketdescribing a particular issue which is to be addressed by a systemadministrator. In some instances, however, alerts provided to themonitoring agent may not include an identifier or the monitoring agentmay be unable to utilize the provided identifier. In such cases today,the monitoring agent passes the alert along to the ticket queuing systemwhere the ticket queuing agent utilizes a static lookup table toidentify the alert and process the alert. Such processing though takesplace far upstream from the source and also utilizes a static lookuptable. Such a static lookup table is somewhat inflexible and resourceintensive. What is needed therefore is means by which alerts having noidentifier or an unusable identifier may be processed closer to thesource and without utilization of a static lookup table at the ticketqueuing system.

SUMMARY

Methods, apparatus, and products for alert management are disclosed inthis specification. Alert management may include receiving, by amonitoring module from one or more disparate monitored sources, analert, where the alert includes a data structure that includes a numberof fields; storing, by the monitoring module, the alert in a database;processing, by the monitoring module periodically at predefinedintervals, the database, including identifying, in dependence upon apredefined ruleset, one or more alerts; storing, by the monitoringmodule, the identified alerts in a staging table, including creating,for each of the identified alerts, a primary key in dependence upon thefields of the identified alert; populating, by the monitoring module foreach of the alerts stored in the staging table, one or more attributefields of the alert in dependence upon the created primary key of thealert; and storing, by the monitoring module, the populated alerts inthe database.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram of an example system for alertmanagement according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method foralert management according to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary methods, apparatus, and products for alert management inaccordance with the present invention are described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, beginning with FIG. 1. FIG. 1 sets forth anetwork diagram of an example ticket queuing system for alert managementaccording to embodiments of the present invention. A ‘ticket’ (146) asthe term is used in this specification is a data structure representingan issue to be addressed by a system administrator or IT (informationtechnology) professional.

The system of FIG. 1 includes several examples of automated computingmachinery. One example of automated computing machinery includes thecomputer (152) which is configured for alert management according toembodiments of the present invention. The computer (152) of FIG. 1includes at least one computer processor (156) or ‘CPU’ as well asrandom access memory (168) (‘RAM’) which is connected through a highspeed memory bus (166) and bus adapter (158) to processor (156) and toother components of the computer (152).

Stored in RAM (168) is a monitoring module (126), a module of computerprogram instructions configured for monitoring various disparatecomputing systems and computing system components. The monitoring module(126) may, in addition to other operations, receive one or more eventsor alerts from other monitored computers (182) or computing componentsthrough a data communications network (100). At a high level, themonitoring module stores the events and alerts and passes some of theevents and alerts along to a ticket queuing module (144) for furtherprocessing and ticket queuing.

The monitoring module (126) of FIG. 1 may also be configured for alertmanagement according to embodiments of the present invention. Such alertmanagement may include receiving, from one or more disparate monitoredsources (182), an alert (132). The alert in the example of FIG. 1 may bea data structure that includes a plurality of fields (134, 136). Eachfield may include a descriptor of the alert.

After receiving the alert (132), the monitoring module may store thealert in a database (142). The database (142) may comprise any number oftables or other data structures useful in storing alerts or otherevents.

The monitoring module (126) may also be configured to periodically atpredefined intervals, process the database (142). Such processing mayinclude identifying one or more alerts stored in the database (142)based on a predefined ruleset. Such a ruleset may include a set of rulesspecifying criteria for identification of alerts in the database.Further, such a ruleset may be implemented as a virtual table, ratherthan a persistent table, where the virtual table is configured to beemptied or destroyed entirely upon a system shutdown. This is incontrast to a persistent table which is configured to remain in memoryeven after a system shutdown.

Once identified, the monitoring module (126) may store the identifiedalerts in a staging table (130). A staging table may be created for thepurpose of storing the alerts, then destroyed at a later time asdescribed below. In storing the identified alerts in a staging table(130), the monitoring module may create, for each of the identifiedalerts, a primary key (138) in dependence upon the fields of theidentified alert. The term ‘primary key’ as used in this specificationrefers to an identifier. Readers of skill in the art will recognize thatthe fields (134, 136) may be used to form the identifier in variousways. In one example, the values of the fields may be concatenated toform the primary key.

The monitoring module (126) may then, in dependence upon the createdprimary keys, populate one or more attribute fields of the alert. Eachattribute field may further describe the alert. In some embodiments theattribute fields are useful in filtering alerts to be sent to the ticketqueuing module (144). Examples of such fields may include a fielddescribing the alert's impact, a field describing the alert's urgency, afield including an indication of whether to pass the alert along to aticketing module for queuing, and so on.

Once the monitoring module (126) has populated the attribute fields ofthe alerts in the staging table (130), the monitoring module may storethe populated alerts in the database (142). In ticket queuing systemssuch as the example provided in FIG. 1, the monitoring module may thenperiodically identify one or more alerts stored in the database (142) toprovide to the ticket queuing module (144) in dependence upon filteringcriteria (not shown here) and the attribute fields of the alerts storedin the database.

In some embodiments, the monitoring module (126) determines whether analert stored in the database (142) is to be sent along in dependenceupon a field indicating whether to pass the alert along to the ticketingmodule. Such a field may, for example, have one of three values:

a value of zero, meaning the alert is not to be passed along to theticket queuing module (144);

a value of one, meaning the alert is to be passed along to the ticketqueuing module (144) with values of the attribute fields being populatedby the monitoring module; or

a value of two, meaning the alert is to be passed along to the ticketqueuing module with default attribute field values. In such anembodiment, the ticket queuing module (144) may perform a lookup in apersistent table in order to aid in ticket generation.

The ticket queuing module (144) in the example of FIG. 1 is depicted asa module of computer program instructions stored in RAM (168) of asecond computer (152 a). Each of the components of the computer (152 a)are similar to that of the monitoring module's computer (152). Forpurposes of brevity, the description of components below is directedprimarily to that of the computer (152), but can be also applied to thecomponents of computer (152 a).

Also stored RAM (168, 168 a) of each computer (152, 152) is an operatingsystem (154, 154 a). Operating systems useful alert management accordingto embodiments of the present invention include UNIX™, Linux™, MicrosoftXP™, AIX™, IBM's i5/OS™, and others as will occur to those of skill inthe art. The operating systems (154, 154 a), monitoring module (126),ticket queuing module (144) in the example of FIG. 1 are shown in RAM(168), but many components of such software typically are stored innon-volatile memory also, such as, for example, on a disk drive (170,170 a).

The computer (152) of FIG. 1 includes disk drive adapter (172) coupledthrough expansion bus (160) and bus adapter (158) to processor (156) andother components of the computer (152). Disk drive adapter (172)connects non-volatile data storage to the computer (152) in the form ofdisk drive (170). Disk drive adapters useful in computers for alertmanagement according to embodiments of the present invention includeIntegrated Drive Electronics (‘IDE’) adapters, Small Computer SystemInterface (‘SCSI’) adapters, and others as will occur to those of skillin the art. Non-volatile computer memory also may be implemented for asan optical disk drive, electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (so-called ‘EEPROM’ or ‘Flash’ memory), RAM drives, and so on, aswill occur to those of skill in the art.

The example computer (152) of FIG. 1 includes one or more input/output(′I/O′) adapters (178). I/O adapters implement user-orientedinput/output through, for example, software drivers and computerhardware for controlling output to display devices such as computerdisplay screens, as well as user input from user input devices (181)such as keyboards and mice. The example computer (152) of FIG. 1includes a video adapter (209), which is an example of an I/O adapterspecially designed for graphic output to a display device (180) such asa display screen or computer monitor. Video adapter (209) is connectedto processor (156) through a high speed video bus (164), bus adapter(158), and the front side bus (162), which is also a high speed bus.

The exemplary computer (152) of FIG. 1 includes a communications adapter(167) for data communications with other computers (182) and for datacommunications with a data communications network (100). Such datacommunications may be carried out serially through RS-232 connections,through external buses such as a Universal Serial Bus (‘USB’), throughdata communications networks such as IP data communications networks,and in other ways as will occur to those of skill in the art.Communications adapters implement the hardware level of datacommunications through which one computer sends data communications toanother computer, directly or through a data communications network.Examples of communications adapters useful for alert managementaccording to embodiments of the present invention include modems forwired dial-up communications, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) adapters for wireddata communications, and 802.11 adapters for wireless datacommunications.

Although the example of FIG. 1 sets forth a ticket queuing system,Readers of skill in the art will recognize that alert management inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention need not be limitedto ticket queuing systems. Further, the arrangement of computers andother devices making up the exemplary system illustrated in FIG. 1 arefor explanation, not for limitation. Data processing systems usefulaccording to various embodiments of the present invention may includeadditional databases, servers, routers, other devices, and peer-to-peerarchitectures, not shown in FIG. 1, as will occur to those of skill inthe art. Networks in such data processing systems may support many datacommunications protocols, including for example TCP (TransmissionControl Protocol), IP (Internet Protocol), HTTP (HyperText TransferProtocol), WAP (Wireless Access Protocol), HDTP (Handheld DeviceTransport Protocol), and others as will occur to those of skill in theart. Various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented ona variety of hardware platforms in addition to those illustrated in FIG.1.

For further explanation, FIG. 2 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method for alert management according to embodiments of thepresent invention. The method of FIG. 2 may be carried out in a ticketqueuing system similar to the system depicted in the example of FIG. 1.Readers of skill in the art will recognize, however, that portions ofthe method of FIG. 2 may useful in systems other than ticket queuingsystems.

The method of FIG. 2 includes receiving (202), by a monitoring modulefrom one or more disparate monitored sources, an alert. In the method ofFIG. 2, the alert is a data structure that includes a plurality offields. Such fields may include descriptions of the alert, anidentification of the source of the alert, a timestamp identifying atime of generation of the alert, and so on as will occur to readers ofskill in the art. Receiving (202) an alert may be carried out in avariety of ways, including, for as one example, receiving a datacommunications message from an alert source where the message is formedand send in accordance with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).

The method of FIG. 2 also includes storing (204), by the monitoringmodule, the alert in a database. The monitoring module may store thealert in the database in number of different ways. The monitoring modulemay, for example, store each alert in a separate table, store all alertsin a single table, or in other ways as will occur to readers of skill inthe art.

The method of FIG. 2 also includes processing (206), by the monitoringmodule periodically at predefined intervals, the database. In the methodof FIG. 2, processing (206) the database includes identifying (208), independence upon a predefined ruleset, one or more alerts. That is,processing (206) the database may be carried out periodically byiteratively (or in parallel) querying the database for alerts thatinclude criteria satisfying one or more rules of the ruleset A rulesetas mentioned above is a set of rules specifying criteria foridentification of alerts in the database. Such rules may include, forexample, a specification of alerts having a particular sourceidentifier, a specification of alerts having a particular alert type, aspecification of alerts having a particular timestamp, some combinationof these criteria, and others as will occur to readers of skill in theart. Such a ruleset may be user-defined and modified from time to timewith the addition of different alert types or different alert sources.

The method of FIG. 2 also includes storing (210), by the monitoringmodule, the identified alerts in a staging table. In the method of FIG.2, storing (210) the identified alerts in a staging table includescreating (212), for each of the identified alerts, a primary key independence upon the fields of the identified alert. A primary key, asmentioned above, is an identifier of the alert. Creating (212) such aprimary key may be carried out in various ways, including for example,by concatenating one or more values of fields of an alert.

The method of FIG. 2 also includes populating (214), by the monitoringmodule for each of the alerts stored in the staging table, one or moreattribute fields of the alert in dependence upon the created primary keyof the alert. In embodiments, in which the method of FIG. 2 is carriedout in a ticket queuing system, the attribute fields of the alert mayinclude any combination of: a field describing the alert's impact; afield describing the alert's urgency; and a field comprising anindication of whether to pass the alert along to a ticketing module forqueuing.

Populating (214), by the monitoring module for each of the alerts storedin the staging table, one or more attribute fields of the alert independence upon the created primary key of the alert may includepopulating the attribute fields with values stored in a user-defineddata population source. Such a user-defined data population source maybe tailored and modified from time to time by a user. As such, theuser-defined data population source may be very flexible compared to apersistent table at a ticket generation module.

The method of FIG. 2 also includes storing (216), by the monitoringmodule, the populated alerts in the database. That is, once the alertsare populated, the alerts are stored back in the database.

In embodiments in which the method of FIG. 2 is implemented in a ticketqueuing system, the method of FIG. 2 also includes identifying (218),periodically, one or more alerts stored in the database to provide to aticket queuing module in dependence upon filtering criteria and theattribute fields of the alerts stored in the database. In someembodiments, the attribute indicating whether to pass along the alert tothe ticket queuing module may utilized to identify the alerts to passalong. In this way, alert processing may be carried out closer to thesource of the alert, thereby reducing number of events and alerts passedalong to the ticket queuing module. Such a reduction also reduces theamount of filtering and processing which occurs at the ticket queuingmodule. Further, the systems described above provide flexibility in thatthe ruleset may be a virtual table that can be modified (or expanded) atany time by a user and the population source may also be modified ortailored at any time by a user.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described above with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of alert management, the methodcomprising: receiving, by a monitoring module from one or more disparatemonitored sources, an alert, wherein the alert comprises a datastructure that includes a plurality of fields, the monitoring modulelogically disposed between the monitored sources and a ticket queuingmodule, wherein the monitoring module is automated computing machinery;storing, by the monitoring module, the alert in a database; processing,by the monitoring module periodically at predefined intervals, thedatabase, including identifying, in dependence upon a predefinedruleset, one or more alerts, the ruleset comprising a specification of acombination of a source identifier, an alert type, and a timestamp;storing, by the monitoring module, the identified alerts in a temporarystaging table, including creating, for each of the identified alerts, aprimary key in dependence upon the fields of the identified alert,wherein creating the primary key further comprises concatenating valuesof the fields of the identified alert; populating, by the monitoringmodule for each of the alerts stored in the staging table, one or moreattribute fields of the alert in dependence upon the created primary keyof the alert, wherein the attribute fields comprise a field comprisingone selected from the group consisting of: a value indicating the alertis not to be passed along to the ticket queuing module, a valueindicating the alert is to be passed along to the ticket queuing modulewith values of the attribute fields populated by the monitoring module,and a value indicating the alert is to be passed along to the ticketqueuing module with attribute fields populated with default values fromcorresponding attribute fields of a persistent table; and storing, bythe monitoring module, the populated alerts in the database for laterselection and issuance as system maintenance tickets by the ticketqueuing module, whereby all of receiving an alert, storing the alert ina database, processing the database, storing identified alerts in astaging table, populating fields, and storing populated alerts arecarried out first in an overall process of alert and ticket processing,before the occurrence of any further selection for or issuance as systemmaintenance tickets.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoringmodule comprises a module of a ticket queuing system.
 3. The method ofclaim 2 further comprising identifying, periodically, one or more alertsstored in the database to provide to a ticket queuing module independence upon filtering criteria and the attribute fields of thealerts stored in the database.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein theattribute fields comprise one or more of: a field describing the alert'simpact; and a field describing the alert's urgency.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the staging table comprises a virtual table configuredto be cleared upon a system shut down.
 6. The method of claim 1 whereinthe ruleset is user-defined.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein populatingone or more attribute fields of the alert in dependence upon the createdprimary key of the alert further comprises populating the attributefields with values stored in a user-defined data population source. 8.An apparatus for alert management, the apparatus comprising a computerprocessor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computerprocessor, the computer memory having disposed within it computerprogram instructions that, when executed by the computer processor,cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of: receiving, by amonitoring module from one or more disparate monitored sources, analert, wherein the alert comprises a data structure that includes aplurality of fields, the monitoring module logically disposed betweenthe monitored sources and a ticket queuing module, wherein themonitoring module is automated computing machinery; storing, by themonitoring module, the alert in a database; processing, by themonitoring module periodically at predefined intervals, the database,including identifying, in dependence upon a predefined ruleset, one ormore alerts, the ruleset comprising a specification of a combination ofa source identifier, an alert type, and a timestamp; storing, by themonitoring module, the identified alerts in a temporary staging table,including creating, for each of the identified alerts, a primary key independence upon the fields of the identified alert, wherein creating theprimary key further comprises concatenating values of the fields of theidentified alert; populating, by the monitoring module for each of thealerts stored in the staging table, one or more attribute fields of thealert in dependence upon the created primary key of the alert, whereinthe attribute fields comprise a field comprising one selected from thegroup consisting of: a value indicating the alert is not to be passedalong to the ticket queuing module, a value indicating the alert is tobe passed along to the ticket queuing module with values of theattribute fields populated by the monitoring module, and a valueindicating the alert is to be passed along to the ticket queuing modulewith attribute fields populated with default values from correspondingattribute fields of a persistent table; and storing, by the monitoringmodule, the populated alerts in the database for later selection andissuance as system maintenance tickets by the ticket queuing module,whereby all of receiving an alert, storing the alert in a database,processing the database, storing identified alerts in a staging table,populating fields, and storing populated alerts are carried out first inan overall process of alert and ticket processing, before the occurrenceof any further selection for or issuance as system maintenance tickets.9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the monitoring module comprises amodule of a ticket queuing system.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 furthercomprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause theapparatus to carry out the step of identifying, periodically, one ormore alerts stored in the database to provide to a ticket queuing modulein dependence upon filtering criteria and the attribute fields of thealerts stored in the database.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein theattribute fields comprise one or more of: a field describing the alert'simpact; and a field describing the alert's urgency.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 8 wherein the staging table comprises a virtual table configuredto be cleared upon a system shut down.
 13. The apparatus of claim 8wherein the ruleset is user-defined.
 14. The apparatus of claim 8wherein populating one or more attribute fields of the alert independence upon the created primary key of the alert further comprisespopulating the attribute fields with values stored in a user-defineddata population source.
 15. A computer program product for alertmanagement, the computer program product disposed upon a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, the computer program product comprisingcomputer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer tocarry out the steps of: receiving, by a monitoring module from one ormore disparate monitored sources, an alert, wherein the alert comprisesa data structure that includes a plurality of fields, the monitoringmodule logically disposed between the monitored sources and a ticketqueuing module, wherein the monitoring module is automated computingmachinery; storing, by the monitoring module, the alert in a database;processing, by the monitoring module periodically at predefinedintervals, the database, including identifying, in dependence upon apredefined ruleset, one or more alerts, the ruleset comprising aspecification of a combination of a source identifier, an alert type,and a timestamp; storing, by the monitoring module, the identifiedalerts in a temporary staging table, including creating, for each of theidentified alerts, a primary key in dependence upon the fields of theidentified alert, wherein creating the primary key further comprisesconcatenating values of the fields of the identified alert; populating,by the monitoring module for each of the alerts stored in the stagingtable, one or more attribute fields of the alert in dependence upon thecreated primary key of the alert, wherein the attribute fields comprisea field comprising one selected from the group consisting of: a valueindicating the alert is not to be passed along to the ticket queuingmodule, a value indicating the alert is to be passed along to the ticketqueuing module with values of the attribute fields populated by themonitoring module, and a value indicating the alert is to be passedalong to the ticket queuing module with attribute fields populated withdefault values from corresponding attribute fields of a persistenttable; and storing, by the monitoring module, the populated alerts inthe database for later selection and issuance as system maintenancetickets by the ticket queuing module, whereby all of receiving an alert,storing the alert in a database, processing the database, storingidentified alerts in a staging table, populating fields, and storingpopulated alerts are carried out first in an overall process of alertand ticket processing, before the occurrence of any further selectionfor or issuance as system maintenance tickets.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 15 wherein the monitoring module comprises a module ofa ticket queuing system.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed,cause the computer to carry out the step of identifying, periodically,one or more alerts stored in the database to provide to a ticket queuingmodule in dependence upon filtering criteria and the attribute fields ofthe alerts stored in the database.
 18. The computer program product ofclaim 16 wherein the attribute fields comprise one or more of: a fielddescribing the alert's impact; and a field describing the alert'surgency.
 19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein thestaging table comprises a virtual table configured to be cleared upon asystem shut down.
 20. The computer program product of claim 15 whereinpopulating one or more attribute fields of the alert in dependence uponthe created primary key of the alert further comprises populating theattribute fields with values stored in a user-defined data populationsource.